Sunshine and Roses?

This morning I read 1 John 3 and 4. These chapters are so stuffed full of good, insightful, convicting verses, I don't know where to start!!

These passages are definitely not an ear tickling ones, with several verses like:

"No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him." (3:6)

We know that from hermeneutics and from the rest of Scripture, that the word "sin" is referring to habitual sin. Some of these sins are listed in Galatians 5:19-20:

"The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God." (Galatians 5:19-20)

Interesting to note that hatred, jealously, and fits of rage (anger) are all listed here. I think many people fall into the temptation of thinking that anger is a "small" sin. Heh...debunked.

Chapter three also talks a lot about obedience to God, and the chapter wraps up like this:

"And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us." (3:23-24)

Chapter four talks more about God's love towards us, and our love towards others, ending with these scathing verses:

"If anyone says, 'I love God,' yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, who he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother." (4:20-21)

Just goes to show that the Bible is not all sunshine and roses. Loving and following God is about making a commitment, and a hard one at that!

It's not about how we feel! (www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbnJWlFjSFk) In fact, 1 John 3:18 really summed it up for me...

"Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth."

~~~

Change the world!!!

In Christ,
Ellie

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